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Ben Aldridge has ruled Captain James out from returning in a new series of Our Girl, explaining how he’s unavailable for the foreseeable future.

The 33-year-old actor plays heartthrob Captain Charles James in the BBC series opposite Michelle Keegan’s Corporal Georgie Lane, which climaxed earlier this year with a very literal cliffhanger as they jumped off a cliff to flee a pursuing cartel.

The BBC have yet to announce any plans of a new series, stating they are in ‘discussions’ for a follow-up, but it looks like there’ll be one noticeable omission if the show does return.

Michelle Keegan stars in Our Girl as Georgie Lane (Picture: BBC)

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Aldridge said: ‘I’m not sure where they stand with Our Girl at the moment. I know there were rumblings of it doing another series. I don’t think I could be a part of that.

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‘I’m doing another job which would make pretty much unavailable for next year, depending on when Our Girl films. But I’m not sure I’d be available to be used.

‘I was never in contract to do another one, none of us were, so I guess it’d be basically who they could get back and, when they decide to do it, who’s available kind of thing.’

If the series were to continue when he’s available however, Aldridge, who was recently cast as Thomas Wayne in Batman spin-off Pennyworth, seems unsure whether he would come back.

‘I’m pretty much blocked off until July next year,’ Aldridge added. ‘So if they shot it after that, I’d think about it but who knows.

‘It ended on a massive, genuine cliffhanger where we’re all jumping off a cliff so I’ve no idea where they’ll take it next. But I had such a great time on that job doing four series of it and I loved everyone on it.’

The last series saw Captain James and Georgie become embroiled in a divisive romance, which left many viewers recoiling in horror as she moved on from Luke Pasqualino’s Elvis.

Georgie and Captain James got in an unexpected romance (Picture: BBC)

It’s a story decision which came as a surprise to Aldridge too, after the idea was joked about on set with Michelle.

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Speaking about the romance, Aldridge said: ‘It was a surprise to us. There were jokes about it and then we found out when we read one of the scripts and we were like, “Woah they’ve actually done it.”

‘There was James professing his love which was quite a surprise that I, as an actor, hadn’t played in any of the episodes leading up to it so I wasn’t conscious of it.

‘Me and Michelle [Keegan] are good mates and we would always joke about it, because a bit of romance is vital in that story and there was no one else who could take on that mantle. So we were messing around basically saying, “Oh I wonder if they’ll do something with us” which was pretty funny.’

Speaking about the reaction to their romance, Aldridge added: ‘Some things were forwarded onto me of people who absolutely hated it, and some people were into it. That’s always the way it’s going to be though.

‘Our Girl has a really fierce fan following which is brilliant for the show and those people are always going to have an opinion which is always kind of great. People had a lot of loyalty to her romance with Elvis as well, people were gutted to see him die, so it’s a bit of a shock for them.’

Ben Aldridge visited Uganda earlier this year (Picture: Send A Cow)

Aldridge is an ambassador for charity Send A Cow, which is calling upon people to give meaningful presents this Christmas to the poorest parts of Africa.

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The actor’s uncle was a founder of the charity, with Ben’s adult family making the decision to stop giving each other Christmas presents to not waste money, after a YouGov poll found 57 per cent of Brits receive at least one unwanted gift at this time of year.

‘Christmas is obviously a lovely time of year but it can also be a stressful time of year when you’ve got to rush around buying people gifts,’ Aldridge said.

Speaking about suggesting the idea to his family, he added: ‘I was like, “What are we doing this for?” I don’t feel like I need much, I don’t think they need much.

Ben Aldridge’s family have stopped giving Christmas presents to each other to not waste money (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

‘I think we just thought it’s about being together on the day, being lucky enough to eat great food and be in each other’s company, and that’s a gift enough, so let’s put our money elsewhere. It seems like a really obvious idea really that we’re happy to do.’

Ben visited Uganda earlier this year to see the charity’s projects himself, describing the trip as a ‘life-changing’ experience.

‘I knew we’d see scenes of hardship, but also overwhelmingly it was just really positive to see that Send A Cow are really giving people the equipment, the tools and the knowledge to work themselves out of poverty via sustainable farming.

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‘From not being able to put food on their tables to then being small farmers, selling their crops, being able to educate their children – it was amazing to see just in a week people at the beginning of that process and people now flourishing. It’s a charity I really do believe in.’

Ben Aldridge is the ambassador for the #DontWasteXmas campaign from International development charity Send a Cow. Give life-changing gifts instead of novelty socks or cheap stocking fillers this Christmas on the Send a Cow online shop.